Content Warning: This guide contains discussion of antisemitism and pogroms. It also references misogynistic views. This novel sometimes uses language that is offensive to people with mental health concerns and contains a depiction of sexual assault.

David Levinsky, the protagonist, immigrates from Antomir, Russia, to the United States. David is both a round and dynamic character, changing throughout the story. His youth in Russia centers on his Talmudic studies. He loses his father when he is three and his mother while still a young man. David grows up poor and relies heavily on the charity of others to survive, continually fluctuating between extremes. In his youth, this manifests in a cycle of deep penitence and heathen sin. He prays for forgiveness and strength to avoid temptation, then gives in to temptation entirely, reveling in the shame and self-disgust. David proves to be a risk-taker, scrounging the money to immigrate to America with the help of his first love, Matilda.

David’s arrival in America shows him his own insignificance; he struggles to make a living, leaning heavily on anyone he can; he loathes peddling and escapes into novels and learning. David operates as his own

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